Opinion Letters to the Editor: Discretion first
If Swaraj does not own up to the indiscretion and resign on her own, the prime minister must ask her to step down to avoid damage to his personal image.
Letter of the Week Award
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Discretion first
The expose on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj helping Lalit Modi with his travel documents has clearly embarrassed the Modi government. Acts of indiscretion by those in sensitive ministries cannot be washed away by claiming these were done on humanitarian grounds. If Swaraj does not own up to the indiscretion and resign on her own, the prime minister must ask her to step down to avoid damage to his personal image.
V.N. Ramachandran, Vadodara
Apropos ‘Sushma admits helping Lalit Modi get travel papers, govt defends her’ (IE, June 15), Swaraj clarified that, taking a humanitarian view of the situation, she conveyed to the British high commissioner that if the British government chose to give travel documents to Lalit Modi, Indo-British bilateral relations would not be hurt. The Congress and AAP spokespersons’ questions about whether help would also be extended to Dawood Ibrahim on humanitarian grounds are silly. Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav has sensibly supported Swaraj.
M.C. Joshi, Lucknow
No agenda
Tahir Mahmood, in his article ‘An untenable posture’ (IE, June 11), has tried to justify his stand by quoting some articles of the Constitution. Instead, he should ask the 177 participant countries, including 41 Islamic nations, why they are going to take part in the International Yoga Day celebrations, thereby hurting the feelings of Muslims. He should also question the religious orientation and credentials of the UN. Their answers will be more palatable, as what his fellow countrymen say is viewed as religious extremism. Politically motivated groups see every practice rooted in India’s cultural heritage as a saffron exercise and, hence, communal.
A.K. Shukla, New Delhi
Keeping standards
The Supreme Court’s decision to cancel this year’s CBSE All-India Pre-Medical Test and directing it to be held afresh could be termed harsh. But the court rightly held that this is the price of maintaining the sanctity and credibility of a process of examination. Hats off to the apex court.
Hemant Kumar, Ambala
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